Wipro

Wipro Ltd.
Public
Traded as
Industry IT services, IT consulting
Founded 29 December 1945 (29 December 1945)
(Amalner, Maharashtra)
Founder Mohamed Prem
Headquarters Bengaluru, India
Area served
 Worldwide
Key people
Services Digital Strategy, Business Consulting and IT Services
Revenue Decrease US$8.4 billion (2018)[1]
Decrease US$1.57 billion (2018)[1]
Decrease US$1.23 billion (2018)[1]
Total assets Decrease US$11.68 billion (2018)[1]
Total equity Decrease US$7.45 billion (2018)[1]
Owner Azim Premji (73.25%)[2]
Number of employees
 164,659 (2018)[1]
Website www.wipro.com

Wipro Limited (Western India Palm Refined Oils Limited[3] or more recently, Western India Products Limited[4]) is an Indian information technology services corporation headquartered in Bengaluru, India.[5]

In 2013, Wipro demerged its non-IT businesses into separate companies.[6]

History

Early formative years

The company was incorporated on 29 December 1945 in Amalner, Maharashtra by Mohamed Premji as 'Western India Vegetable Products Limited', later abbreviated to 'Wipro'. It was initially set up as a manufacturer of vegetable and refined oils in Amalner, Maharashtra, India under the trade names of Kisan, Sunflower, and Camel.[4][7][8]

In 1966, after Mohamed Premji’s death, his son Azim Premji returned home from Stanford University and took over Wipro as its chairman at the age of 21.[9][10]

During the 1970s and 1980s, the company shifted its focus to new business opportunities in the IT and computing industry, which was at a nascent stage in India at the time. On 7 June 1977, the name of the company changed from Western India Vegetable Products Limited, to Wipro Products Limited.[7]

The year 1980 marked the arrival of Wipro in the IT domain. In 1982, the name was changed from Wipro Products Limited to Wipro Limited.[11] Meanwhile, Wipro continued to expand in the consumer products domain with the launch of "Ralak" a Tulsi based family soap and "Wipro Jasmine", a toilet soap. In 1988 Premji took a loan of 1 million dollars from Sonkar and Sons to set up the project. Later the entire loan amount was waived.[7]

1966–1992

In 1988, Wipro diversified its product line into heavy-duty industrial cylinders and mobile hydraulic cylinders.[7] A joint venture company with the United States' General Electric in the name of Wipro GE Medical Systems Pvt. Ltd. was set up in 1989 for the manufacture, sales, and service of diagnostic and imaging products.[12] Later, in 1991, tipping systems and Eaton hydraulic products were launched. The Wipro Fluid Power division, in 1992, developed expertise to offer standard hydraulic cylinders for construction equipment and truck tipping systems. The market saw the launch of the "Santoor" talcum powder and "Wipro Baby Soft" range of baby toiletries in 1990.[12]

1994–2000

In 1995, Wipro set up an overseas design centre, Odyssey 21, for undertaking projects and product developments in advanced technologies for overseas clients. Wipro Infotech and Wipro Systems were amalgamated with Wipro in April that year.[12] Five of Wipro's manufacturing and development facilities secured the ISO 9001 certification during 1994–95. In 1999, Wipro acquired Wipro Acer.[13] Wipro became a more profitable, diversified corporation with new products such as the Wipro SuperGenius personal computers (PCs). In 1999, the product was the one Indian PC range to obtain US-based National Software Testing Laboratory (NSTL) certification for the Year 2000 (Y2K) compliance in hardware for all models.[14]

Wipro Limited joined with KPN (Royal Dutch telecom) to form a joint venture company "Wipro Net Limited" to provide internet services in India.[10] In 2000 Wipro launched Wipro OSS Smart and Wipro WAP Smart.[15] In the same year, Wipro got listed on New York Stock Exchange[16] and it Premji approached KPMG to form a mega-outsourcing joint venture between the two organizations.

2001–2010

In February 2002, Wipro became the first software technology and services company in India to be ISO 14001 certified.[17] Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting Group entered the market of compact fluorescent lamps, with the launch of a range of CFL, under the brand name of Wipro Smartlite.[18] As the company grew, a study revealed that Wipro was the fastest wealth creator for 5 years (1997–2002).[19][20] It set up a wholly owned subsidiary company (Wipro Consumer Care Limited) to manufacture consumer care and lighting products.[21] In 2004 Wipro joined the billion dollar club.[22] It also partnered with Intel for i-shiksha.[23][24] In 2006 Wipro acquired cMango Inc., a US-based technology infrastructure Consulting firm[25][26] Enabler, and a Europe-based retail solutions provider.[27] In 2007, Wipro signed a large deal with Lockheed Martin.[28][29] It also agreed to acquire Oki Techno Centre Singapore Pte Ltd (OTCS)[29][30] and signed an R&D partnership contract with Nokia Siemens Networks in Germany.[31][32]

In 2008 Wipro’s entered the clean energy business with Wipro Eco Energy.[33][34]

2011-2018

In April 2011, Wipro signed an agreement with Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) for the acquisition of their global oil and gas information technology practice.[35][36] In 2012 Wipro employed more than 70,000 H-1B visa professional temporary workers in the United States.[37]

In 2012 Wipro acquired Australian Trade Promotions Management firm Promax Applications Group (PAG) for $35 million.[38][39] Also that year, Wipro Ltd. demerged its consumer care, lighting, furniture, infrastructure engineering (hydraulics and water and medical diagnostic business) into a separate company to be named 'Wipro Enterprises Ltd'.[40][41][42] Prior to demerger, these companies together contributed about 10% of the revenues of Wipro Limited.[43][44]

In 2014, Wipro signed a 10-year $1.2 billion contract with ATCO, a Canadian Energy & Utilities corporation based in Calgary, Alberta. This was the largest deal in Wipro's history.[45] In October 2016, Wipro announced that it was buying Appirio, an Indianapolis-based cloud services company for $500 million.[46][47][48] In 2017, the company expanded its operations in London.[49]

In 2017, Wipro Limited won a five-year IT infrastructure and applications managed services engagement with Grameenphone (GP), a leading telecom operator in Bangladesh and announced it would set up a new delivery centre there.

In 2018, the company began building software to help with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe.[50] In March 2018, Wipro said it would be buying a third of Denim Group.[51] In April 2018, the company sold its stake in the airport IT services company JV.[52]

In August 2018, WiPro paid US $75m to National Grid US as a settlement for a botched SAP implementation that a 2014 audit estimated could cost the company US $1 billion. Wipro had been hired as systems integrator in 2010, but errors in the rollout, intended to replace an Oracle system, caused serious losses and reputational damage.[53]

To compete with Hindustan Unilever and Procter & Gamble, in May 2018 Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting announced it would increase Indian distribution of its acquired personal care brands Enchanteur and Yardley. Other recent acquisitions included Unza Holdings, LD Waxson, and Zhongshan.[54] On May 3, 2018, it was announced that Wipro was opening manufacturing locations in Andhra Pradesh and Guangzhou.[55] On May 4, 2018, it was reported that Wipro's stock value had been decreasing.[56] The day earlier, press had said that HCL would likely unseat Wipro that quarter as the third largest Indian IT company, after TCS and Infosys.[57]

Subsidiaries

Western India Products Limited

Wipro Limited is a global provider of comprehensive IT solutions and services, including Systems Integration, Consulting, Information Systems outsourcing, IT-enabled services, R&D services.[58]

Wipro entered into the technology business in 1981 and has over 140,000 employees and clients across 54 countries.[59] IT revenues were at $7.1 billion for the year ended 31 March 2015, with a repeat business ratio of over 95%.[60][61]

Wipro Consumer Care & Lighting

Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting (WCCLG), a business unit of Wipro Limited operates in the FMCG segment dealing in consumable commodities. Established in 1945, its first product was vegetable oil, later sold under the brand name "Sunflower Vanaspati". It sells personal care products, such as Wipro Baby Soft and Wipro Safewash, toilet soaps Santoor and Chandrika as well as Yardley.[62] It sells lighting products, including Smartlite CFL,[63] LED, and emergency lights.[64]

Through product sales and acquisitions, Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting has grown steadily in the FMCG segment.[65][66][67]

Wipro Infrastructure Engineering

Wipro Infrastructure Engineering is the hydraulics business division of Wipro Limited and has been in the business of manufacturing hydraulic cylinders, truck cylinders, and their components and solutions since 1976. This division delivers hydraulic cylinders to international OEMs and represents the Kawasaki, Sun Hydraulics[68] and Teijin Seiki range of hydraulic products in India.[69] It has entered into partnerships Kawasaki[70][71] and aerospace giant EADS.[72] In 2010 Wipro Infrastructure Engineering was the second largest independent manufacturer of hydraulic cylinders in the world.[73]

Wipro GE Medical Systems

Wipro GE Medical Systems Limited is Wipro’s joint venture with GE Healthcare South Asia. It is engaged in the research and development of advanced solutions to cater to patient and customer needs in healthcare. This partnership, which began in 1990,[74] today includes gadgets and equipment for diagnostics, healthcare IT solutions and services to help healthcare professionals combat cancer, heart disease, and other ailments. There is complete adherence to Six Sigma quality standards in all products.[75][76][77]

Sustainability

Wipro has been ranked 1st in the 2010 Asian Sustainability Rating (ASR) of Indian companies[78] and is a member of the NASDAQ Global Sustainability Index[79] as well as the Dow Jones Sustainability Index.[80]

In November 2012 Guide to Greener Electronics, Greenpeace ranked Wipro first with a score of 7.1/10.[81]

Listing and shareholding

Listing: Wipro's equity shares are listed on Bombay Stock Exchange where it is a constituent of the BSE SENSEX index,[82] and the National Stock Exchange of India where it is a constituent of the S&P CNX Nifty.[83] The American Depositary Shares of the company are listed at the NYSE since October 2000.[84]

Shareholding: On 30 September 2013, 73.51% of the equity shares of the company were owned by the promoters: Azim Premji, his family members, partnership firms in which he is a partner and Trusts formed by him/his family. The remaining 26.49% shares are owned by others.

Shareholders (as on 20-January-2016)Shareholding
Promoter group led by Azim Premji73.36%
Foreign Institutional Investors (FII)10.68%
Indian Public4.99%
Bodies Corporate2.50%
Mutual Funds/UTI1.90%
NRI1.11%
Trusts/Others0.77%
American Depositary Shares2.30%
Total100%

Employees

Abidali Neemuchwala was appointed as Wipro's CEO after T. K. stepped down in early 2016.Neemuchwala, who had been group president and COO from April 2015, was appointed CEO with effect from 1 February 2016.[85]

Awards and recognitions

  • In March 2017, Wipro was recognized as one of the world’s most ethical companies by US-based Ethisphere Institute for the sixth consecutive year.[86][87][88][89]
  • In May 2016, it was ranked 755th on the Forbes Global 2000 list.[90]
  • Wipro won Gold Award for ‘Integrated Security Assurance Service (iSAS)’ under the ‘Vulnerability Assessment, Remediation and Management’ category of the 11th Annual 2015 Info Security PG’s Global Excellence Awards.[91]
  • Wipro won 7 awards, including Best Managed IT Services and Best System Integrator in the CIO Choice Awards 2015, India[92]
  • In 2014, Wipro was ranked 52nd among India's most trusted brands according to the Brand Trust Report, a study conducted by Trust Research Advisory.[93]
  • Wipro was ranked 2nd in the Newsweek 2012 Global 500 Green companies.[94]
  • Wipro received the 'NASSCOM Corporate Award for Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion, 2012', in the category 'Most Effective Implementation of Practices & Technology for Persons with Disabilities'.[95]
  • In 2012, it was awarded the highest rating of Stakeholder Value and Corporate Rating 1 (SVG 1) by ICRA Limited.[96]
  • It received National award for excellence in Corporate Governance from the Institute of Company Secretaries of India during the year 2004.[97]

See also

References

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  4. 1 2 "Wipro: From a vegetable oil maker to an IT major". NDTV Profit. Retrieved 15 November 2013.
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  6. ↑ "Wipro falls 12% as stock adjusts to demerger". The Hindu. 12 April 2013. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "Company History of Wipro". Money Control. Retrieved 15 November 2013.
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  12. 1 2 3 "Company History — Wipro". The Economic Times. Economic Times. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
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